<p>UDel is one of my top choices for next year, as I want to major in Chemical Engineering. Currently I have already taken 3 AP tests, English Language and Comp, US History, and Chem, and received grades of a 5, 5, and 3. This year I am taking AP Micro, Physics C (both tests), Bio, Calc AB, Comp Sci A, and Lit. From looking at the undergrad catalog for chem E majors at udel, it seems that my english, computer science, and calculus tests wouldnt get me out of any classes. First of all, how much do any of these tests get u out of their respective class if I were to receive a 5 on each of them. 2nd, do engineers take Calc 1 at Udel?</p>
<p>I don’t know about Comp Sci, but doing well on the AP English test will be useful as it helps with your breadth requirements. For engineers, they do their calc placement based on their own placement test, not APs, at least that’s how it was for me two years ago. Chemical engineers specifically have to be taking calc 3 during their 2nd semester of freshman year so you can take calc 1 in the fall but then you must take calc 2 in the winter. Most ChemE’s take calc 2 in their 1st semester however.</p>
<p>I can give you some info on this. My D is a sophmore (not a chemical engineer) and went in with a bunch of AP credits. There is a place online where you can find out exactly what credits you will get for each AP course according to the score you got, and also what UD equivalent course you will get credit for (which some will be for core requirements).</p>
<p>My D did take some of the same courses you did. She took AP Calc BC and got a 5 with a subscore of 5 for Calc AB (that is the way they work it with calc BC). This got her 8 credits and credit for both Calc1 & Calc2 (which is believe is called MATH241 & 242). With calc AB you will get credit for Calc1 if you score I believe a 3 or above. She also took AP Eco and scored a 4 and got credit for Microeconomics which fufilled a core requirement. Also AP US History which she scored a 4 and got credit for US History which fufilled another core requirement.</p>
<p>But check it out on the web site, like I said there is a chart that gives you specifics of the score you need to get credit for a particular course.</p>
<p>Udel’s Calc placement for engineering is deceiving, even with a 5 on AP calc it will easily place you in the higher calc, if you have any shaky calc skills, Calc 2, with the other difficult classes Chem E majors take as well as all the other stress of being a freshman can be quite overwhelming.
Definitely pick your professors for math based on the feedback the students give on rate my professor,my d learned, to stay away from the ones the kids rate poorly, it can be difficult enough forget about a math professor that is not good. Chem E is VERY difficult, d learned for every 1 hour in lecture requires at least 2 hours of homework daily for every class. Her friends not in Engineering don’t have 1/10th the work she has.
The other thing with Chem E and the math, if you decide down the road that Chem E is not your thing, and switch engineering disciplines, Udel will require you to take Calc 1 anyway for your requirement, placement or not. Use your AP credits for the other non math requirements, but start with calc 1, if you do well you have an easy grade. D had to do calc 1 after testing into calc 2, and taking calc 2 first. she switched and they made her do Calc 1 anyway even with the 5 on the AP.
Honestly, for engineering, taking the APs gave her no benefit as far as eliminating anything, the requirements are the requirements, she will graduate with about 140 credits total, but Udel did not eliminate ANY core for her. It did allow her to register for classes early as a sophomore when a freshman, as a junior now registering as a senior credit wise so you get first dibs on professors, so not all a waste.</p>
<p>My guess is that chemistry is a pretty important foundation course for Chemical Engineering. Here’s something else for you to consider - My son took the AP Chemistry course in high school and scored a 5 on the exam. He received credit for Chem 111 and 112 at UDel, but elected to take the sequence anyway as foundation for Biochemistry. He discovered that the coursework at UDel was much more comprehensive and very difficult for him, as well as for others in his honors class that had scored well on their AP exams. In the process, he also discovered that he really didn’t like Chemistry as much as he thought in high school.</p>